Poem ~ Sydney Lad On The Somme - Saturday, 3 March 1917- Sunday, 4 March 1917

Source: File: Private (Signaller) Arthur Joseph Hill. See an original image at: <http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205301221> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

Source: File: Arthur Joseph Hill. See an original image at: <http://beyond1914.sydney.edu.au/profile/3168/arthur-joseph-hill> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

Source: File: Letter from Arthur Hill, father of A.J. Hill. See an original image at: <http://beyond1914.sydney.edu.au/profile/3168/arthur-joseph-hill> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

i

A Sydney lad of Waverly New South Wales,

Left home of 60 Wiley Street,

With his father's name - Arthur Joseph Hills

Had departed to take part in war.

Born 18 September 1897 Arthur's early

Education in Waverly; Christian

Brothers College to University of Sydney,

To study English till 1916.

In schooling career his bright disposition

Was recognised; upright with

Manly participation in sports and class -

Captain of 1st 15 football team.

Arthur Hill's ability had been well proved

And matriculated, in 1915

He made a place at University to gain

A bursary for a good future.

Then aged 18, Arthur enlisted February

On the 23 day, to attend signal

School at Kiama - examinations taken

Made him first class signaller.

Within six months, at rank of Corporal,

24th August Arthur Hills

Departed Australia, with expeditionary

Australian Imperial Forces.

Late 1916, Signaller Arthur Hill in France

With Reinforcements Battalion,

Took part in actions about the Somme;

Bapaume as Germans retreated

Corporal perhaps was a temporary rank;

Private Arthur 'Snowy' Hill,

Affectionately named being tall, stout lad,

With light hair and complexion.

ii

Into 1917 a military operation carried

Out codenamed 'Alberich' -

In 1916 had formed German salient’s

Of saint-Quentin and Arras.

This was a planned strategy to regroup

To the Hidenburg line to cut

Front, for ease of defence - though allies

Believed this was a retreat.

Preparations had seen German troops

Destroy commune’s roads and

Railways while poisoning water supplies,

Leaving booby traps behind.

The dawn of 1917 still offered no sign

Of allied Victory, when

The shift away of German presence from

Salient’s made hope.

The area lay in close sight of Australian

Trenches, where Signaller

Arthur Hill 3827,  took part in the operation

To move into gaps left.

17 March 1917, would see the Australians 
Make a road to Main Square

Of Bapaume - where an Anzac army band

Made appearance to play.

Yet a time delayed mine had been placed

Below the town hall, to

Blew within days to bury troops; meanwhile

Snipers were an issue.

iii

Amid later accounts of the Australian Red

Cross, came informants

Of those close to Signaller Private Arthur

Hill, to clarify events.

Pte. J. Glynn 3815, Pte. W. Curran 4015,

C. Wallbank, Pte. Mckenzie 384,

Cpl T Mckenzie 1116, Pte. L. O. Lees 3835;

Snowy Hill's mate, Pte. F. Dunne.

The Australians were close to Bollecourt,

In Sunray Trench the lad

Nicknamed Snowy, Pte. Arthur Hill 3827

Helped gain 1/2 mile of trench.

Pte. Glynn told how Snowy had been part

Of fatigue duty at Sunray

Trench, close to the 'crater' - then under

German counter attacks.

Varied versions by likely battle confusion,

As Pte. W Curran 4015

Said shelling in the early hours struck

Snowy down instantly.

Yet all others said that sniper problem

Had got him - Pte. Glynn

Believed a sniper took Hill down through

The heart - killed outright.

Cpl. Mckenzie 1116, was at the time there

As a witness that Pte. Hill

Had moved just above the parapet, to be 

Target of a keen sniper.

Pte. Mckenzie 384, a close mate, said

Hill was also known as 'honey' -

That they shared leave in London. Only

Later to find out what happened.

Others were there close to the signaller,

Paul Vincent of A Coy,

Told that Pte. Arthur Hill had looked over

Parapet of Mosoon trench.

Some sniper took a rapid aim to shoot

The signaller through

The neck - C. Wallbank was with him

And confirmed his identity.

Another uncertainty lay over Hill's grave;

Close by to Sunray trench,

But his mate failed to find it and later told

It lay at Cameron Sap.

Pte. Lees reported how Hill's death had

Been registered with

Padre Ward - a cross marked the grave,

How his effects sent home.

Days later his father, Arthur, wrote to thank

University Union President, for

Kind letter of sympathy for a son's death -

Signed, yours respectfully.

Thursday 22 February 1917, another day

2nd day 29th Week

In the 3rd year of war, an Australian man

Was shot digging a sap.

A day short of one year in joining, had

Seen Pte. Arthur Hill killed -

22 February 1917 genuinely popular lad,

Named Honey and Snowy.

by Jamie Mann.

Source: File: Explore Military Uniform. Available at: <https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/294422894375837134/> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

Source: File: Beyond 1914 - The University of Sydney and the Great War. Available at: <http://beyond1914.sydney.edu.au/profile/3168/arthur-joseph-hill> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

Source: File: Bapaume To Bullecourt (1917). Available at: <http://aso.gov.au/titles/historical/bapaume-to-bullecourt/notes/> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

Source: File: [PDF] 3827 Private Arthur Joseph Hill - Australian War Memorial. Available at: <https://www.awm.gov.au/images/collection/pdf/RCDIG1047611--1-.pdf> [Accessed 03 March 2017]

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Poem ~ Tanks At Thiepval - Friday, 29 September 1916 - Sunday, 01 October 1916

Source: File: Germans attack British Tank. See an original image at: <https://twitter.com/skipperswar> 
[Accessed 29 September 2016]

  

As eye and 'earwitness' among Somme days,

To number almost three months, Philip Gibbs

Noted on Wednesday 27 September, how

The high ridge of Thiepval had transformed -

Counting 34 blackened tree stumps, the ground

Ploughed by high explosive storms.

Finally, a prize of wasteland across a panorama

Of shell shattered No Mans Land - soldier waves

Leaping in and out of trenches - small figures

To reappear with silhouettes of prisoners led

Back in batches; then back again to undertake

A little more progress.

Closer and closer to the rows of fruit trees -

Or rather what had been apple trees, no longer

To bear April blossoms on the edge of Thiepval,

On what had once been the French commune.

All this had taken count from shell storms that

Held no respect for life.

Storms of shells made by hands of womankind,

Transported by sea and land and used in grand

Orchestras of guns - the taking of Mouquet

Farm by mixed Australian and Canadian blood,

That quickly dried among its ruin - brickwork

Dust marked out old ruins linked by trenches.

Renewed sniping acts thereabouts, caused pull

Back from Mouquet, to see refreshed gunnery

Targeting the space, as in recent old days -

Seeking nests of Germans, protecting parties

As they set out to dig down sometimes to find

Deep holes - without searching are filled again.

Amid the broken trunks and red brick rubble

Of Thiepval chateau, came close by a solitary

Shape - a monster to any virgin eye that set

Upon it - a sloth on the warpath, spitting out

Shots of lead, joining in the artillery in violent

Shelling across Thiepval.

Whatever life might be there lay underground,

As darkest black smoke marked each hit - any

Wise German hid in the villages vaulted cellars.

From their burrows the German soldiers had

Created exit points, so they could pop up any

Where like rabbits to take pot shots.

In the chance of meeting survivors who

Had held the village for two years, French

Speaking Germans told openly how they

Dug warrens of safety, with furniture made

Of planks raised above ground; handsome

And high bearing in interview.

Quizzed in their aspect of wars outcome,

They laughed at English victory idea - fed

By daily newspapers their reactions to raid

Of zeppelins gave exclamation of 'kaput.'

Being gentleman of war each side readily

Praised the other.

Responses to appearances of the tanks

By Tommy, very apparent in their grins

'Where are the old tanks?' despite being

On the cutting edge of warfare - slowly

A lone tank can appear oddly, like a boat

To lurch in and out of trenches.

Nosing into soft earth driven by grunt

Of an engine, to rest a moment on old

Parapets as if winded - waddles onward

Then sits and look at the chateau ruins -

Described as some living beast that duly

Considers eating chateau remains.

In observation of the metal machine each
Tommy keeps his head below bullets

And ridges - impatiently willing the tank to

Move onwards and get on with it - which

It did; seen as a fire-breathing dragon,

With belching dyspepsia.

Reporter’s eyes saw how German bullets

Harmlessly 'splash' off casings - in a further

Lurch its belly squashes sandbags flat -

As if to use them as a resting cushion -

Then it gave another burp of fire, before

Baffled Germans.

Yelling and cheery Tommy’s come from

Behind the tank to take 'hände hoch'

German gunners into their care, who

Stood in awe of the over powering beast 

That defeated them - the Tommy’s agree

Over usage in taking chateau.

An impossible task without tanks. A tank

Did not give a fuck for the machine guns -

Though the short horned mud hopper's

Body had become winded, having to pause

Before it could crawl safely homewards,

Back to its den.

Mirrored occurrences happened at Ovillers,

With close encounters of underground foe -

Where life sized German rabbits popped

Out of their burrows, with rat like intentions.

One English lad told how he dipped down

Into a deep dugout.

He ran back in retreat, at the appearance

Of dark German shapes - though some

Seemed to want to surrender - it was hard

To tell if the Huns real tricky intent would

Be to kill him - his own fellows throwing

Bombs, possibly ending him either way.

The bomb parties aimed their explosions

At dug out entrances - sending in plumes

Of smoke, to force the Hun out the other

Way - something like rat hunting the vermin

Were life-sized, dangerous and desperate.

A melee of prisoner taking, as more brave

Tommy’s swooped into tunnels to sweep

Prisoners out in their hundreds, to emerge

Amid hundreds of waiting allied soldiers -

40 wounded and 998 unwounded were

Taken prisoner.

Danger was by no means over - in taking

The mass of prisoners back to allied lines,

A German barrage picked off some of

Their own - while noon approached the

Opposition sought retaliation - flames

And black smoke renewed.

By witness the allies signaled friendly

Guns to assist their plight - flame against

Flame blew each other into silence for

Moments, allowing movement of men to go

Out and poke about to dig further holes,

Or scrounge about for keepsakes.

Like a landscape of Victorian chimneys,

Plumes popped up - among them a black

Gush appeared on the site of Chateau's

Carcass of reddened rubble - all equal

Events about seemed to stifle enemy

Ability to summon counter attacks.

Resorting to shells over Morval and

Compels, while No Mans Land became

An expansion and all about tanks rolled

Out in sorties - as some hours before

At Gueudecourt; there troops were

Stuck before a bullet wall.

So up came a tank across the sticky

Trench to hand this over to its followers

Where white flags of surrender lifted -

Buoyed by success, the tank pressed

Further on to find more success to find

Itself set upon.

Despite the guns firing about, a horde

Of men leapt upon the beast, believing they

Might smash its metal casing using bombs,

Rifle butts and bayonet and bullet fire -

In crazy notions trying to find it’s weakest

Side riding on its back.

But allied infantry came to the defence

Of the tank - driving the remaining enemy

Away that did not lay dead about - still

Unperturbed the tank recovered its engine

Growled and began to waddle onwards

Without a thought.

by Jamie Mann.

Anon.,1916. Story Of Thiepval - 'Tanks' Exploits - Attacked By Germans With Bomb And Bayonet. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 26 September 1916. P.9. Col.1-2. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213310/Daily-Telegraph-September-29-1916.html> [Accessed: 29 September 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 29 September 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12213310/Daily-Telegraph-September-29-1916.html

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Poem ~ Somme Tricks and Mishaps - Wednesday, 23 August 1916 - Friday, 25 August 1916

Source: File: ruins of Pozieres after the battle. The grave is that of Captain Ivor Margetts. AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL. See an original image at: <http://www.news.com.au/national/anzac-day/world-war-i-battlefield-relic-from-pozieres-to-be-presented-at-launceston-ceremony/news-story/68cf35eb0effa0746d39a4c9abaa630a> 
[Accessed 23 August 2016]

By fighting stretched over further days,

Each second as a heavy pace - almost

Unbearable - but still endured by those

That lived - 1 July seemed long gone,

But from that hours beginning no end

Was yet in sight.

Paused breathing spaces, then another

Stride of individuals made whole

Over familiar, now unfamiliar grounds,

Pulverized and smashed again into

Disorder of primeval soup, where one

Day life may revive.

One day too far ahead to conceive,

As the present heaved day after

Day - yet July becomes August still

Summer - told by warmth of air

Even if any other evidence might

Be absent.

Unseen by a soldier’s eyes normality

Is another affair - artillery or other

Gunnery, systems of trenches occupy

These workers minds as they push on,

Against redoubts where a single gun

May remain.

Still to cause havoc - then suddenly,

Somehow, if not quite sure, the high

Ground of Pozieres is gained by some

Pathetic achievement - Thipeval

And Pozieres - Pozieres and Thiepval,

Over repeated ground.

A rolling frozen muddied sea where

Rewards come as holes in the ground -

Water falls from blue skies down into

Burrowed earth, where waiting

Germans hold out with supplies

Of bombs.

All types of weapons to hand yet

Many gave no resistance - to kick

Aside their arms and lift high their

Hands in surrender - though some

Choose by order to die by gun

Of an unknown man.

The need to clear them out is swift

And urgent, to prevent any pockets

Of Germans that could emerge once

Passed - attacks from the rear make

A hard lesson to learn - how events

Occurred too many times.

A witness account to give impression

Of those taken from enemy dugouts -

All tall, healthy, fresh looking without

A stain on uniforms - out of galleries

Of luxuries of sprung beds, armchairs

And false curtained windows.

To watch them marching, led by one

That laughed and joked before his

Brother officers - a great giant man

Made taller by his German casque -

Such a strong beefed up force could

Easily halt progress.

Each day the artillery set to grind

Down on the enemy - but each

Shell equates destruction of

Earth, to counter swift progress

As troops stumble over uneven

Ground.

In all directions dank land lay

Pitted by crater holes - enough

To confuse any man in the dark.

One Australian advance tumbles

Into holes, deeper than a man,

To sink into filth.

Lights might flash from enemy

Flares, to give some warning -

Equally to light their figures,

Which reappear, blacked stained

Mockery of men, to be picked

On by Germans.

Hazards are varied in such vile

Swamps - one Australian told

Of his burial alive over six times,

To be rescued with luck - saved

By a bubble of air; though others

Might succumb to nerves.

Still more hazards lay, even after

A trench might be deserted

As Hun were apt to leave small

Gifts to the unwary - by parapets

A mantrap might be laid, to bite

The leg of a soldier and bring

Him down.

Then there were the tortoise shell

Type traps - unlikely to be seen

In the dark they waddled on 4 legs -

And once touched could easily kill

A man - then there are the lucky

Mishaps.

On the road between Delville

And High Wood, where trenches

Were defended - the Germans

Swarmed either side the allies,

Who ducked for the enemy then

Mistook each other.

Over the heads bombs were

Thrown - German at German

As their real targets slipped

Easily away - defiant of all bags

Of tricks, they conveyed fresh

Prisoners to their lines.

By Jamie Mann.

Gibbs,P., 1916. British Advance - New Enemy Weapons - Astounding Incident. The Daily Telegraph, [online] 23 August 1916. P.10. Col.1. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12212857/Daily-Telegraph-August-23-1916.html> [Accessed: 23 August 2016].

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 23 August 2016). 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ww1-archive/12212857/Daily-Telegraph-August-23-1916.html

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Poem ~ 1 July 1916: Fields Of Death - Sunday, 2 July 1916

Source: File: First World War - Battle of the Somme and experiences of trench warfare (Mr Allsop History). [online] [Accessed: 01 July 2016]

Source: File: The British Capture Montauban. See an original image at: <https://17thmanchesters.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/montauban-1-bell.jpg> [Accessed 02 July 2016]

Source: File: Defence of  Montauban - Digging Trenches. See an original image at: <https://17thmanchesters.wordpress.com/the-big-push/the-defence-of-montauban/> [Accessed 02 July 2016]

i

The earth has turned red -

Not by any hint of sunlight

That hung bright above earth,

But by the blood of men -

Any difference of German or

Allied blood was impossible

To tell - a Soldier of the 14th 

Royal Irish Rifles moved on.

Across the lines similar

Stories played out - early

That morning C Company,

Of 2nd Battalion Essex

Regiment, was south

Of Serre - 2nd Lieutenant

Gilbert Waterhouse was in

The assault of 606 ranks.

The Lieutenant had joined

As a private and applied

For a commission - Aged 33,

A distinctive man of varied

Talents - his observations

Honed into lines of poetry.

Although little known, he

Knew the tread of a private.

Already with 24 compositions

To his name, Waterhouse

Considered how 1 July would

Give him more to write - yet

Within 120 minutes after zero

Hour, would be his last sighting

Alive - Lieutenant Waterhouse

Last seen by Private Atkins.

Action had led them on from

Serre to Beaumont - thirty

Yards ahead Atkins saw him.

Distinctive, he stood revolver

In hand, ahead of the platoon -

He dropped to crawl, as others

Followed suit - assumption

Being he was avoiding gunfire.

Amid the poets that took

To the call, Sergeant Streets

Had, like all pals, undertaken

Training prior to that fateful

Day - a Sheffield man amid

Pals that had already served

In Egypt - they sailed back

In preparations for the push.

John Streets in civvy days

Had developed an artistry -

Inspired by Derbyshire

Countryside - with his love

Of writing continuing to days

Of army life - amid public

School types, miner Streets

Found himself west of Serre

Sergeant Streets had written

In a red note book of their

Training days - carefully

Prepared they were ready

For the attack - Streets told

His family he might never

Return - but he felt no anger

Leading his men to assembly.

The trenches there already

Battered, mainly by weather -

To lay behind their pals, thirty

Yards ahead - zero hour

Saw the Sheffield soldiers

Rise into the fray of machine

Gunners; Sergeant Streets

Was hit, so made his return.

Others said how they saw

Him go to aid of another

Wounded fellow, where

He was last seen - with

No proof of death, Street

had declaration of 'missing'

Status - while lying still,

Might then give no grave.

ii

Seconds into minutes

Into hours of 1 July 1916;

It was impossible to halt

Time - Schwaben Redoubt

Morale lay in disintegration -

A weary rabble of soldiers

Was quizzed by an officer -

But they were all incoherent.

As horses he led them all

to water - the men drank. After

This the officer pushed them

Back into battle - the Irish

Were fighting determinedly -

In a tactic they stayed amid

Shell holes to see Germans

Repopulate their trenches.

Hun large numbers formed

Their own trap, as the Irish

Pulverized them; with

Grenades they charged -

Under bayonets they wiped

Out all Germans to purloin

Enemy ammunition. The

Hour turned to 16:38 p.m.

About the area of Montauban

Village ruins were the German

Fighting lines, with three major

Points of strength; Dublin,

Glatz and Pommiers Redoubt -

The crumbling remains had

Been well fortified - Trones,

And Bernafay woods lay east.

Montauban lay in divisional

Sights - Manchester men

Found hardly any opposition,

As they pushed in to clear

Way by bombing parties -

With no recognisable streets

The ruins harboured remaining

Germans, to quickly surrender.

From the new British line,

A Private Kennedy returned

To the old line, for grenade

Supplies - the afternoon drew

On as he returned, across

What was an eerie No Mans

Land - the sun shone, about

Were cries of the wounded.

While picking his way slowly

Came the agony of inability

To help those around - he

Saw their faces and raised

Arms - he shut them out -

His orders were to deliver

A vital load of grenades to

Manachesters at Montauban.

In uniform with Brodie hat,

Geoffrey Malins, without

Any gun, aimed his camera -

At significant points of day;

Fresh footage had mounted

Up in the can - Malins turned

His lens to returning Seaforth

Highlanders, falling into lines.

Men were 'utterly worn out

Body and soul'  - Malins saw

How their sergeant stood,

Resting his small notebook

On his rifles end - the men

Heaved themselves up into

Two small, wavering lines - his

Pencil struck out the missing.

While at Montauban, Private

Kennedy delivered his load

Of grenades - They explored

The German's fortified village;

Find they are places of home,

Solid and well lit. Kennedy

Found a nervy little kitten, He

Carried the black cat in his pack.

iii

Kennedy and the tiny kitten

Spent the evening with pals,

Awaiting their next orders -

Other soldiers with success

Their sector taken, discover

A dead machine gunner - the

German had been chained

To his gun; causing rumors.

Yet the day is not yet over

For many forces - success

At Schwaben Redoubt  saw

Ulsters come under assault

By German Regiment - now

The opposite applies, when

British machine guns aimed

At waves, to cut them down.

Darkness had yet to fall

On this bloody day  - a third

German wave are crushed,

Under sudden artillery -

Into evening light, the full

Weight of what has taken

Place begins to haunt

The survivors of the battle.

With pockets of conflict

Still going on, the fields

Of the Somme are scoured -

Stretcher-bearers and medics

Set out to recover as many

Of the wounded as possible.

Blinding evidence stat to fill

Casualty clearing stations.

Medical Deadlock occurs,

Injured soldiers await their

Moment of triage - varied

Wounds will see yet many

Die - worse still, only 3 out

Of 18 ambulance trains are

Filled - pressure intensifies

For the Doctors and nurses.

One infantry officer, Edward

Liveing, had survived the first

24 hours - in the early minutes

Of the attack he had reached

Wire of Germans - behind

The fourth wave of attack

Had all but been obliterated -

Within 15 minutes he was hit.

A bullet cut into his thigh, like

Boiling water - he had tried

To urge on the attack, but

His voice yelled unheard -

He crawled slowly back,

Nearly shot dead by friendly

Fire, his Blighty leads him

To safety of an ambulance.

Edward Liveing is one

Of the lucky ones - some

Battalions had lost all

Their officers - in a whirl

Of slowed time, he lies amid

Rows of stretchers - patched

Up, he's transported to a train,

Where he accepts lemonade.

About Liveing, the train

Is soon packed with shapes

Of the wounded - to fill air

With aroma of bloodied

Khaki - eventually evening

Passes into twilight and

Darkness; many injured

Are still lying, left in fields.

With few success, as at

Montauban, the worst day

For the British army begins

To draws to a close - final

Numbers were still to be

Confirmed - to rise around

21,000 - with Germans killed

Reaching numbers of 8,000.

by Jamie Mann.

Source: File: Battle of the Somme. Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme> [Accessed 02 July 2016]

Source: File: The Battle of the Somme, as it happened on July 1, 1916 - The Telegraph. Available at: <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/07/01/the-battle-of-the-somme-as-it-happened-on-july-1-1916/> [Accessed 02 July 2016]

Source: File: East Surrey Regiment’s ‘football’ charge July 1st 1916. Available at: <http://www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk/themes/subjects/military/east_surrey_regiments_football_charge_july_1st_1916/> [Accessed 02 July 2016]

Source: File: W. N. Hodgson Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._N._Hodgson> [Accessed 02 July 2016]

Source: File: William Noel Hodgson (1893 – 1916). Available at: <http://www.warpoets.org/poets/william-noel-hodgson-1893-1916/> [Accessed 02 July 2016]

Mann, J., 2016. 100 years Ago - Poems by Jamie Mann. [letter] (Personal communication, 02 July 2016). 

http://worldwaroneblogger.blogspot.co.uk/

#WW1 #WW1centenary #GreatWar #WW1poem #GreatWar #WW1centenary #worldwarone #worldwaroneremembered #WW1Somme